Welcome to Beacon Academy
by Yhissle
Summary: A group consisting of an outcast, a wannabe hero, a social butterfly with a heart of gold and a douche-bag with a superiority complex. Was Ozpin scraping the bottom of the barrel with this team? Yeah probably.
1. Chapter 1

Editor stuff: i have no idea why it was so messed up before but hopefully this works.

Welcome to Beacon Academy!

"What a bloody joke" Dwight Sandpiper muttered to himself, slouched on an outstandingly uncomfortable bench, hands in his pockets, he stared around the spacious room. The décor was strangely normal, for a giant ship floating in the sky, with beige walls, wooden furniture and even windows to look down at the surrounding country. He placed a finger to his ear in annoyance, as the loud humming of the giant airship caused him to hear an high pitched ring.

He began to briefly inspect the other passenger on this God-awful machine, having realized any one of them could become his team-mate in the near future, making sure not to look for too long in order to avoid any awkward eye contact or conversation:

The first subject to his scrutiny was a boy who awkwardly leaned against a wall in what was clearly an uncomfortable stance. He had blue eyes and slicked back blue hair, that cascaded all the way down to his shoulders.

'If you're going to do it, at least do it properly, thing looks like a mullet' he internally scoffed to himself. He carefully ran a hand through his own brown hair, carefully parted into curtains.

After criticizing the boy's hair he inspected his clothes, or perhaps more appropriately his armour, it was very simple, he wore grey armour with light grey edges, as well as vambraces of the same style.

It was at this point that Dwight lost interest in the mullet boy's basic armour, and began looking for others to scrutinize. He finally rested his sight on a much larger individual, who stood by the window looking out into the City of Vale, his hair was burnt orange and he to be looked around about 6'5, Dwight thought about making a joke about the colour of his hair, but decided he didn't want to get into a fight with someone who looked like he could kick a beowulf's ass in a fistfight.

Like his previous case, this guy had a large set of armour, though his was much more impressive, with a gold trim around the light grey armour, that was worn atop a black shirt and black trousers. In the middle of his fancy armour, a bird flew upwards with its wings outstretched, to many it would seem glorious and proud but it just made Dwight feel uneasy, almost as if the bird is caged and trying to escape.

Dwight looked down at his own clothes, realizing that he must look quite out of place wearing such a casual outfit. Sporting a pair of black skinny jeans, which lead to his light brown boots, a plain black t-shirt was accompanied by a large brown bomber jacket, which featured the silhouette of a bird on a tree branch, on the back.

The only thing about Dwight that made him look like a fighter, was the sandy brown sub-machine gun that sat on his lap, the paint had scratches and had peeled off on many edges to reveal the steely grey metal of the gun underneath.

Having gotten bored of looking around he closed his eyes, and tried his hardest to nap in the terrible conditions. Having taken a flight from Vale all the way to Mistral only to then have to go back to Vale, his lack of sleep was easily able to triumph the noise and discomfort of the airship, as he fell into a lazy, uncomfortable slumber.

Merrick Howler did his best to support himself when the 'ship' occasionally swayed, as he travelled through it's exceptionally large amount of halls and rooms, he found it awe inspiring that such a thing could exist, when he really thought about it.

He was rudely shoved back into reality by the all too sudden urge to find a trash can, in order to unload his previously consumed lunch into.

Merrick was comforted by the sight of a sickly blonde boy, also seemingly dealing with the same problem. Understanding the plight of the boy Merrick made his way over and gave the blonde a pat on the back as he heaved uncontrollably into a trash can, the sight of which made Merrick gag a little, but also made him thankful that he wasn't suffering as badly.

The boy, having seemingly run out of liquids to spew out his mouth, leaned upright and wiped his lower face off, then turned to Merrick offering a smile that was both sad and thankful at the same time, the two smiled at each other in understanding of their common problems.

"Motion sickness sucks" The weedy blonde said in a wheezy, run-down voice.

"That it does" He offered back with a smile.

" So, what's your name?" The blonde asked as he sat down on one of the ships many benches.

"Merrick Howler" He didn't join the blonde on the bench, opting to stand instead and look around. The blonde raised an eyebrow but said nothing, beginning to look away as well.

"...And you?"

"The name's Jaune Arc, short sweet, rolls off the..." Jaune trailed off as he turned back to see the first friend he had made just disappeared as quickly as he showed up.

"...Aw"

Merrick quickly stumbled through the corridors of the ship, having suddenly felt the need to get up and get to fresh air, he had to abandon his recently met companion in search of a window or any sort of open portion of the ship, but was unfortunately left with nothing more than a large un-openable window and a nearby waste basket.

'I'll have to make sure to meet up with him later' He thought to himself as he leaned up against the window, breathing heavily, and doing his best to focus on the surrounding countryside he was currently soaring above.

He looked up to see his reflection in the in the window, a pair of brown eyes so dark they may as well have been black stared back at him, his his long curly black hair was perfectly visible in the semi-transparent view from the window, the longest hairs nestled gently against the back of his neck, his focus lowered to his white long sleeved shirt that sported a few pieces of armour and padding, over this he wore a dark leather jacket. His grey jeans clung to his legs tightly and slotted neatly into into a pair of black metal tipped boots, his outfit wasn't very stylish but Merrick loved it's practicality and versatility.

He knew he would see the boy again 'Jaune did I hear him say?' since it was fairly obvious who was headed to Beacon, by what they were wearing and whether or not they carried weapons.

The trip was greatly reduced in time by the airships, but many students preferred to take everything with them at once. Meaning chances are they would be carrying many of their things on person so that their luggage didn't exceed the weight limits.

Merrick was used to travelling light so he didn't need to worry about such things, however he decided to wear his usual gear anyway, as he felt more comfortable in it, as did many of the the other students seemingly.

His gaze drifted to a figure slumped up on a nearby bench, on closer inspection he noticed the boy (who looked a few inches shorter than him) was asleep, his brown curtains lightly swayed in unison with the ship.

Merrick wouldn't have been able to tell that he was one of the students headed to Beacon if it weren't for the gun nestled in his lap, as he dressed more like a model than a fighter.

His analysis of the sleeping teen was all to quickly halted by a desperate need to send all of the fluids in his stomach straight back out of his mouth. Determined not to be seen in such a weak state he rushed to find a source of clear air once again.

Kira Cinnamon was by no means a shy or anxious girl, she was in fact a very friendly and outgoing, but in spite of this, she couldn't help but feel nervous going into the year, she new that some of her friends from Flare and students from Signal would be attending Beacon with her, but many of the faces she'd be seeing would be new ones.

She stared into her bedroom mirror, the figure that stared back had chocolate brown hair and eyes that seemed to be a mishmash between bright orange and a shiny brown, her 5'1 figure was hardly enough to get her at the required level to see the mirror.

She turned and looked down at her clothes, her white floral t-shirt was tucked into her brown skirt. Underneath which she wore a pair of puffy white shorts, as a safety and decency precaution . She also wore a shiny silver necklace

'Not having any wardrobe malfunctions today!'

She turned her head from the mirror to the small framed picture resting to the side of it, a large family stood together, all smiling brightly into the camera lens vigorously. Two proud parents stood with all five of their children (two girls and three boys), the oldest of which towered over her younger siblings, to which she was visibly delighted by. Kira sighed.

"Five years and I don't think I've grown an inch…"

Her frustrated expression quickly dissipated when she heard the call of her mother.

"Sweety, your taxi is here"

Kira quickly took the picture out of it's frame and carefully slipped it into the pocket on her shirt.

"Coming mama!"

Nadia was sweating… she shouldn't be sweating so much… was it the idea that she would be, for the first time, going to an actual school with actual students? No.

Was it the fact that she was entering a world where she would constantly be risking her life in order to protect the people of remnant? No.

It was ridiculous, but she had gotten herself into such a state all over one person. Pyrrha Nikos… the top student at Sanctum and winner Mistral Regional Tournament FOUR years in a row.

Nadia had done similar at her own home-towns under-16s tournament, but Nadia didn't see that as anything compared to what Pyrrha was capable of. Nadia _idolised_ her. Pyrrha Nikos was the one who had helped inspire Nadia to become a huntress.

The thought of meeting her sent shivers down Nadia's spine.

After regaining her senses and taking a minute to compose herself, Nadia looked forward suspiciously at the taxi driver, who she had noticed checking her out in his rear-view mirror, but a sharp glare sent his eyes back onto the road.

She looked into her reflection, her eyes almost sky light blue eyes featured well with her blonde hair, which was so light that it was very nearly white.

She shifted awkwardly in the back seat of the taxi, apparently what was basically a full set of armour didn't make for the most comfortable thing to wear in a car. She tugged at her white skirt, which was 'accessorized' by plates of silver and grey armour, which also covered her hands, feet and chest. Aside from the mid sections of her legs and arms, her body was covered by her clothes and armour.

"We're nearly at the station by the way" the gruff voice of the driver piped up, uing the opportunity to check her out.

"Thank you" Nadia said through gritted teeth.

The driver seemed to realise her contempt for him as he nervously darted his eyes away from her stabbing gaze.

Nadia sighed.

'Won't be too long now'.


	2. Chapter 2

Editor stuff: I'm real sorry about the weird technical issues with the first chapter, not to mention my shitty grammar and constant typos. I'm still learning how to write properly so I hope you guys can excuse all that crap.

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As the airship began the final stretch of it's journey to Beacon academy, many of the soon to be students crowded around the exit, having been on the airship for many hours or having taken multiple trips to reach the destination. Some older blonde woman was talking on several of the holographic displays in the room about how lucky they all were to be there.

Merrick could feel his stomach churn as the airship began it's descent to the academy.

"Come on, not long now" He grimaced as he closed his eyes and turned his head upwards, as if in an attempt to stop the vomit from escaping his body.

Dwight stood nearby, barely keeping himself upright, letting out an audibly loud yawn. One hand covered his mouth, the other was loosely placed against a wall to keep him from splashing onto the floor.

"I can't wait to be off this damn thing" He grumbled to himself

Nadia sat on a close by bench, a suitcase of her things resting on her lap, she made an effort to look as correct and respectable as possible.

Her good looks had often created issues for her in the past, and it seemed they would continue to do so, as she already had to reject one overly confident boy with a green mohawk.

She dug her fingernails deep into the underside of the wooden bench, it's brittle wood easily braking under the pressure. Fidgeting was a good way of keeping herself calm in the lead up to what was going to be the biggest moment of her life.

Nadia looked to the smaller cocoa-coloured haired girl to her side and smiled politely, the girl sent back the most beaming smile Nadia had ever witnessed, it somehow managed to instil her with new-found confidence and happiness.

When the tall blonde had smiled at Kira, there was nothing she could do other than smile back. The idea that there were other people going to the school who were kind and happy sent a felling of warmth through Kira as she sat happily next to the much taller girl.

A blasting wave of fresh air cascaded over the students as the giant doors slid open, the euphoria of which led many of the students to let out sighs and cheers of relief.

Not all of the students were able to feel such relief, as Jaune and Merrick quickly escaped the flying prison to the sweetness of the natural air, and the end of constant swaying and motion.

Merrick took several deep breaths and was able to settle his stomach. He turned to realise that his new found friend hadn't been so lucky, as he threw up intensely into a nearby bin.

Merrick frowned when he overheard the boy he had seen sleeping earlier walk past the blonde and laughing at his dismay. Merrick noticed that he was being purposefully loud so that Jaune could hear him, just to add to his humiliation.

'Why are people like that even here?' Merrick was inwardly fuming as he stood amidst the shuffling crowd.

He sighed, remembering to take the advise of his grandfather and 'simply ignore people like that'

"Hey, you got any idea where we're meant to be going?" he asked a shorter boy in a dark green tailcoat with a black ponytail.

"I think there's going to be some sort of ceremony in the school's amphitheatre, it's just up that way" The boy pointed.

As he turned Merrick noticed a pink 'or is it magenta?' streak in the student's hair.

"Thanks… uhhh"

"Ren… Lie Ren, nice to meet you, i'd love to stay and chat but i'm quite pressed for time" Ren bowed before quickly taking off in the direction he had earlier pointed, followed closely behind by a ginger girl with wild hair and a frankly ridiculous hammer.

"Hey, you got any idea where we're meant to be going?" Merrick received a sense of deja vu as he turned to meet the questioners gaze. it was the one he had witnessed laughing at Jaune, Merrick stared at his soon to be classmate and made his best attempt not to scowl.

"Well…?"

"Oh.. it's uh- we're meant to go to that building over there for a ceremony or something" Merrick pointed after having been caught lost in his thoughts.

"All right" The boy said, walking away without ushering a response.

'Not even so much as a thank you' Merrick though to himself as he stared at the light brown etching of bird on the back of the boy's jacket.

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Kira and Nadia both got up from their shared bench, Kira took a moment to gather all of her things, making sure she didn't leave any of her essentials on the airship.

"Here we go" Kira joked to the girl she had been sat with, only to realise she had already taken off towards the school before Kira was finished with her things.

The warm feeling she had felt earlier was no longer so present, and she remembered that not everyone going to this school would be the same as her, or would even like her.

She promptly (and awkwardly) left the airship and made her way to the ceremony, she didn't exactly know where to go, until she was directed to the right place by a polite second year student wearing a beret, not without gushing about how "cute" and adorable" Kira was though.

As she reached the entrance to the great hall, she couldn't help but stand in awe of it's magnificence, it was a beautiful building that seemed more like a work of art than a practical structure.

Kira turned to her sides and realised that she was not alone in her admiration of the architecture, as several other students gasped in disbelief at the sheer beauty of the great amphitheatre.

"This is it" Kira said to herself as she walked in, trailed by many of the other students.

"How long is this speech going to be?" Dwight groaned as he ambled into the building.

"I've never seen so many people all in one place" Merrick marvelled as he walked in closely behind Dwight.

"This is where my journey begins…" Nadia looked around, only a few other students were still outside the building like her, then she walked in.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'll keep this brief… You have travelled here today in search of knowledge…" The calm voice of Professor Ozpin echoed on the school loudspeakers.

The amphitheatre was almost as glamorous on the inside as it was on the outside, with a large stage and even larger viewing area. Spanned out across the hall were several different 'attractions' such as great works of art and statues of warriors. All this combined with a flawless interior design created quite the atmosphere for the students on their first day.

"Psst…"

Merrick Howlers intent on listening carefully was being rudely interrupted.

"... you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people…"

"Hey…" A sharp whisper and even sharper elbow to the side of Merrick's gut was enough to get him to turn his head.

He glared at that same boy from earlier, with the same stylish hair and clothes, and the same, somehow both smug and disgusted at once, look on his face.

"What!.." Merrick seared in anger as he tried his hardest to keep his voice down.

"I heard there's going to be a test tomorrow, and they're going to pick teams based on the results" Dwight said sideways, pretending to pay attention to the speech.

"...but I look amongst you, and all I see is waisted energy…"

This peaked Merrick interest, enough to indulge in the 'so far' one sided conversation.

"How did you find that out?" he sceptically questioned.

"Some second year told me"

"Well… what's the test?"

"I don't know, she said that 'it only worked if we didn't know about it' or some garbage like that"

Merrick realised he was missing the speech and quickly turned his attention back to his new principal.

"It is up to you to decide"

And with that… he left.

Merrick angrily swung in the direction of the student he had been conversing with (mostly against his own will). Howbeit, his angered and flustered expression only seemed to make it's target snigger under his breath, as if the annoyance of others was some sort of sustenance for him.

"You will gather in the barn tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins… _be ready"_

"Maybe he wasn't just talking bull…" Merrick uttered as Dwight walked away.

"Hey, are you all right?" A voice from behind asked.

"All right? Why wouldn't I be?" Merrick spun around to question the stranger's voice, why did people have to keep approaching him?

He turned to see a girl, much smaller than he was, she had short brown hair, the messy curls gently flowed down to the back of her neck. Her height and face conveyed the appearance of someone much younger than she must have been, only students of 17 and above were permitted entry into the academy.

Merrick's sharp voice and line of questioning had led her to jump slightly, becoming slightly scared of the student who literally towered above her, there must have been at least a foot and a half difference.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean- I… What I meant to say was… you looked like something was bothering you" The small girl desperately tried to explain herself.

"Don't worry it's fine, and yeah I'm all right" Merrick mustered a half cocked smile at his classmate, trying to get her to calm down a bit.

There was a short pause, as both the two students stood in almost complete silence. It wasn't an overly awkward silence, but instead one where both didn't think there was anything important to say.

Merrick was the one to break the silence.

"I just don't understand why _some people_ need to come here just to bully and antagonize others" He said, glaring at Dwight, whom was currently having a conversation with a large ginger boy in silver armour.

Kira caught eye of who he was looking at and stared for a few seconds, taking mental note to know not to get in any type of confrontation with that student.

"Who is he?"

"I don't really know, I never heard his name"

"Well let's hope we don't get put on a team with him" Kira joked.

"Ha… yeah let's hope"

Both students stopped for a moment, realising that there was a very real chance they could be on a team together, since they had no idea how the teams were actually formed.

"I'm Kira by the way… Kira Cinnamon" Kira extended her hand and simultaneously offered a smile.

"Merrick Howler. Nice to meet you Kira" Merrick happily took her hand, his, much large, basically wrapping around hers.

In another part of the room, Nadia Tundra made her way to the barn in order to get some early sleep. She didn't know what the initiation test was, but she sure wasn't going into it unprepared.


	4. Chapter 4

Nadia wiped away the drips of sweat from her forehead, blew her nose and tried not to choke on the lump in her throat.

She was currently stood alone at the sink of the girls bathroom, just outside of the large hall which currently housed all of the students who would be partaking in the initiation.

'How pathetic' She thought. It was her first day and she had already gotten a cold, and a bad one too. Nadia glared at her reflection in the mirror. Although her hair was tied back, her fringe clung to her forehead, having been thoroughly soaked in sweat. Her usually fair and flawless skin had become pale and clammy.

Nadia's trouble was all too suddenly made worse by the idea that she could meet Pyrrha Nikos in this condition.

"Oh Oum… what would she think if she saw me like this" Nadia gasped.

She looked at her scroll. _12:54_. She had wanted to get early sleep to be ready for the initiation, but that wasn't very likely to happen now. Nadia put her head into her hands and let out a sigh.

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"So… what's your name?"

"Dwight."

"Oh, well I'm Kira and this is Merrick"

".….." Dwight seemed more interested in looking around the room than conversing with the two students.

"It's nice to meet you" Kira tried her hardest to break the silence.

The room was very large, which was good since it was packed with students, who were each doing their best to lay claim to as much space as possible.

It was described as a barn by Professor Goodwitch, but it was nothing like that. The room was, like most of the other buildings on the premises, very well made. The walls were beige with red features and linings, and the surprisingly comfortable floor was a deep green.

The three students sat on their bedrolls, in one of the corners of the room. They each faced inwards, in a triangle-esque formation.

There was a forth roll close by but none of them had seen it's occupant as of yet.

Kira wore an admittedly silly, but comfortable, rabbit onesie. Dwight was shirtless, opting to wear naught but a loose fitting pair of beige shorts. Merrick wore a pair of black joggers and a black tank top.

The floor of the large room was littered with sleeping bags and bedrolls. Students scattered around the room, some sat in their makeshift beds, trying their best to sleep, others (like the group in the corner) openly chatted to pass the time and get to know their classmates better.

"So what's your deal?" Dwight said, staring at Merrick. Having opted to completely ignore Kira.

"My deal?" Merrick raised an eyebrow as their eyes deadlocked.

"You're just glaring at me with this weird look. Are you like… some sort of social retard or something?" Dwight scoffed.

"H-hey!" Kira gasped.

"I'm the social retard? I'm not the one basically naked in a room full of my future classmates" Merrick scoffed back at Dwight.

".…"

"Fair enough" Dwight said in an appeased manner as he extended his hand for a sideways high-five.

Merrick paused for a moment and stared at Dwight with a confused expression, before hesitantly slapping Dwight's hand with his own.

"What?" Merrick looked at Kira, who seemed just as confused as he was.

"You were just calling me retarded, now you're high fiving me. Did I miss something?" Merrick followed up.

"You didn't buckle, and you came back at me instead of taking it" Dwight leaned back as he nonchalantly flexed to himself.

"Oh… I think get it" Merrick said. Flexing his own muscles almost to challenge Dwight.

Noticing this, Dwight sat back up.

"Ohhh, So you think you're a big man then?" Dwight tried his best to mock the much larger teen.

"I don't know, do I?" Merrick grinned.

The two boys were both in great shape, obviously, they wouldn't be at one of the most prestigious academies in the world if they weren't, but they sported very different physiques. Dwight was lean but very toned, not to mention he was only just a bit above average height at round 6'0. Merrick however, was much wider and more muscular than Dwight, on top of this he was several inches taller at 6'5, though he didn't have the same muscle definition that Dwight did.

"As much as I'm sure you two are enjoying this, you might want to stop. We've got company"Kira giggled to herself.

Dwight and Merrick turned in almost perfect sync, as a girl awkwardly stumbled over to their area. She looked pale and sick,her blonde hair was drenched in sweat, and her stride was more of an anxious trudge. Despite this, she still managed to portray an image of beauty and elegance.

Many of the boys (and some of the girls too) did their best to flex and check themselves out as she walked past. This seized no rewards though, as she simply looked at the floor with one hand gently rested against the side of her head.

"... She's gorgeous…" Merrick murmured in an almost mesmerized stupor.

"Should I tell her that?" Dwight leaned over and nudged Merrick's side with a devious smile.

"Shut up" Merrick smiled back.

Nadia walked up to the empty bedroll and sat down at it, mere feet away from Dwight,Merrick and Kira, she hid her face behind her arms as they propped on top of her bent knees. The way she covered her face made it seem as if she was trying her best not to be seen.

"Hi" The blonde turned to Kira, who sat cross legged, eagerly smiling at Nadia.

"Hi" Nadia croaked as she wiped the underside of her nose with a handkerchief.

"Are you sick?" Kira asked, turning back to see the faces of Merrick and Dwight staring at her like she had just asked the dumbest question ever.

'Of course she's sick you idiot! Why would she be acting like this if she wasn't' Kira inwardly berated herself.

'She probably thinks you're such an idiot now' Kira's spiral of self scolding sent her nearly to the verge of tears in only a few moments.

Kira closed her eyes and locked her lips shut as she desperately tried not to cry on her first day at Beacon. A horrible dread washed over her, she felt as if her head was being shut off from the rest of the world.

"I'm fine thanks, just a cold" Nadia sniffed.

Kira opened her eyes, the girl had seemingly not bothered by the obviousness of Kira's question.

"Oh thank Oum…" she whispered ever so quietly to herself.

"I'm Kira by the way, I really like your hair" she instantly returned to her usual happy and outgoing exterior.

"Thanks. I'm Nadia Tundra, it's a pleasure to meet you" The blonde said with one hand enclosing her nose with the handkerchief.

Nadia turned to Dwight and Merrick, who both had removed stares. Noticing her looking at them, Merrick realised he needed to introduce himself or he risked looking even more weird.

"Oh- I'm Merrick… Howler… Hi" Merrick stuttered.

"Smooth…" Dwight whispered into Merrick's ear teasingly, before turning back to Nadia, who was smiling and nodding to Merrick.

"Dwight Sandpiper" he disinterestedly groaned, flopping onto his back.

"...Dwight Sandpiper… that name sounds familiar" Nadia placed a finger on her chin in contemplation.

"Doubt it. I'm not from Vale, I only moved here about a year ago" Dwight leaned onto his back elbows as he raised an eyebrow at Nadia.

"Where are you from?" Kira arched forward and asked.

"Mistral. Can you not tell from the accent?"

"Not really, you don't look like you're from Mistral either" Merrick said, noting Dwight's appearance as more Vale or Vacuo.

"My mom's from Vacuo, Dad's from Vale, but me and my sister were born and raised in Haven" Dwight yawned loudly.

"So did you go to Signal after you moved?" Kira asked..

"No, I went to Flare" Dwight stated.

"Me too… I guess we must have just been in different classes or something" Kira grinned.

Nadia still sat with a finger placed on her lower lip and a furrowed brow on her forehead. She took a long look at Dwight, who sat talking to Kira, seemingly not even noticing her stares. Nadia knew she had seen him or heard of him before but just couldn't think of when.

Dwight realised that Nadia was staring at him, and turned to face her with a crude smile.

"What? You got a problem or something? Oh, I get it, you want to screw me" Dwight inferred.

"WHAT?!" Nadia recoiled, giving Dwight a look of disdain.

"Sorry, I'm not looking for a girlfriend at the moment. Why do people keep staring at me?" he said, lying down onto his bedroll and placing both hands behind his head.

"Hey! You can't ju-" Nadia stopped after realising she was being too loud, and people were probably going to notice her outburst.

"I have _NO_ interest in you" She seared silently with anger.

"Course you don't." Dwight sniggered.

Dwight knew all too well the girl was less than interested in him, _especially_ in a romantic sense. He just knew that embarrassing her on her first day would leave her more indignant than anything else he could try.

Not long after, the room was thrust into darkness as the candles that illuminated the hall where all blown out in one swift motion. The students were all soon asleep.

Except for one… A single student, Nadia Tundra, lay awake, as she sniffled on a blocked nose, and felt the excruciating pain of a pulsating headache, she lay in and discomfort all throughout the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Mind paralysing pain. A pain so intense a person could be forgiven for thinking their brain was being slowly liquefied. A horrible feeling of sweat and heat, but is only made worse by exposure to cold.

Nadia felt such a pain in the side of her head, just behind her eyes. It was as if someone was drilling a screw driver directly into her skull. No matter how many times she rubbed her head and tried to get the pain to go away, it lingered. Like a dark stain on a white carpet, the pain refused to be simply wiped away.

She found herself staring into the girls' bathroom mirror as she scrubbed her teeth with a brand new electric toothbrush that her parents had bought for her.

"Remember Nadie, a good huntress always takes care of her hygiene" She mumbled her mothers words back to herself.

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Kira stared at the two currently inside out socks that dangled sadly in each of her small hands.

' _Odd…'_

'My socks are odd… I'm trying my hardest to look like an adult. And I have to wear odd socks.'

One of the socks was a solid white with an orange trim. The other was a milky-brown with white polka dots.

Kira reluctantly slipped them onto her feet and up past her ankles as they rested just beneath her knees, the socks were loose and baggy on her thin legs.

"And now you look like a child" She grumbled as she checked her shirt's pocket for her family picture, upon the reassurance it was there she slipped it back in and patted the pocket gently.

She looked around the room. Realizing almost everyone had already left the sleeping area, she began to make her way to the locker room.

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Dwight set his unloaded type 100 machine gun onto a nearby idle chair, returning to his locker, he took out several ammo magazines, each had a different symbol on the side, one had a flame, another had a lightning bolt, and another, a shard of ice, he then put each of them in pouches on the inside of his jacket, these markings were a clear indication of dust ammunition. He then took an unmarked clip and threw it onto the nearby chair his gun was resting on.

"Why would you use normal ammo?"

"Huh?" Dwight turned to see Merrick, slouched down on a bench, taping up his hands.

"If you've got dust ammunition, why would you even bother with the normal stuff?" Merrick reached into a nearby locker and retrieved a pair of red knuckle dusters, with a box like object attached to fit on the back of the hand.

"Do I look like I'm made of money? This stuff's expensive , especially lately" Dwight said, referencing the growing number of dust related crimes in Vale. He pulled a small pistol resembling a Luger out of his locker and, once again, put it into a small pouch in his jacket.

Merrick pressed lightly on a part of his dusters, causing them to transform into a gun-like machination on his hands, the boxes on the back functioning as the main part of the gun, four holes opened in the gauntlet and gun tips popped out of each.

"Fair enough, I prefer the standard stuff anyway" Merrick grinned as he loaded a clip into the back of each of his gauntlets.

"Semi or full auto?" Dwight questioned as he retrieved yet another pistol, this time a revolver of some sort, placing it into his boot.

"Burst" Merrick quizzically stared at Dwight as he picked up his machine gun, loaded the clip and began to make his way for the exit of the locker room. The two walked out together and made for the schools docking bay.

Merrick turned to Dwight as they walked, a question burning into his mind.

"Do you really need that many guns?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"...These team-mates will be with you for the rest of you time here at Beacon…" Ozpin stood in front of the line of eager students.

However, there were those not so excited for the upcoming trial. Nadia Tundra was still stricken by an illness that, by all signs, had no intention of going away in the next thirty seconds.

"...So it is in your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you can work well…"

Dwight and Merrick simultaneously glanced towards each-other, though their ideas of forming a team together would be quickly shut down. Kira eagerly looked around at the various student to see who she could partner with.

"...That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.

"... Shit."


	6. Chapter 6

"Arrghh for the love of Oum" Dwight swiped yet another branch away as he traversed the dense forest.

"That old bastard has the _audacity_ to throw us off a FUCKING CLIFF?" His anger grew with every word.

"I mean… like… seriously… WHAT THE FUCK?!" Dwight just barely stopped himself from walked right off a small cliff, the drop was likely not big enough to kill him, but it was pretty damn close. Dwight fell back in a panic, landing straight onto his rear, and letting out a loud yelp.

"Hey! Do you want every damn Grimm in the forest to hear you?"

Dwight turned around to see Merrick Howler, his weird box guns were still strapped to his hands. How fortunate for Dwight.

…

There was a moment of silence between the two, before they both gave a small nod and Merrick helped Dwight up off of the wet and muddy forest surface.

"So… what next, _partner_?" Merrick said sarcastically.

"Let's just get the artefacts and get the hell out of this place"

"Here here" Merrick chuckled as the two made for what they thought was the right destination.

"So what actually are the artefa-"

The two newly formed team-mates were thrust out of their moods, by what was a truly spine-tingling roar. Feeling the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up, they both exchanged much more frightened expressions.

"Double time, then we get the fuck out of here" Dwight gulped.

"Lead the way" Merrick said, surveying the surrounding foliage.

The two began to make steady progress in what they had both determined was the best direction, after reaching a rather large clearing in the forest they mutually deciding it would be the easier route they set off on.

'CRACCKKK!' a loud snapping noise from a nearby bush put the two teens on alert, both readying their weapons, prepared for a fight. This however, luckily for the two of them, was not necessary.

A boy with light brown hair (similar to Dwight's), combed to the sides emerged from the bushes. He wore tan armour on his chest, shoulders, arms and his waist, hanging by his waist was a sword, with what Merrick assumed was a gun mechanism. He also had a noticeable squint, his eyes barely visible.

"Hey"

"Hey"

The three boys exchanged glances with each-other briefly, before the stranger began to speak.

"So you guys are already partners…"

"Yeah, you're welcome to tag along until we can find you one" Merrick proposed with a minor shrug of the shoulders.

"Sure… you know you're headed in the wrong direction right?" Their new companion spoke up.

"Wait… seriously?" Merrick gave him a look.

"Yeah, we were told to head to head north, you've been heading north-west. Don't worry, if we adjust now we won't have wasted too much time" The armoured teen assured them.

"Oh.. that's… not too bad, let's get going then, there's no reason to waste any more time"

"Fair enough" Dwight added lazily to the conversation.

"Let's go"

"Oh… I'm Merrick by the way, and this is Dwight" Merrick gestured as they began to make ground on their target.

"I'm Dove" the boy replied as he carefully stepped over an uprooted tree root.

They all began to slow as they reached a denser part of the forest, careful not to fall and injure themselves.

"Now would be the worst time to twist an ankle wouldn't it?" Dwight chuckled as he tip-toed in-between the roots.

Nadia was alone. Everyone else was would be half-way to the objective at this point. And here she was, curled up against a tree, with a snapped ankle. Looming overhead was the slope of a massive cliff, one that she had previously stood atop of. How times had changed.

She tested the ankle several times but was met with searing pain every-time she touched it. The fall and the damaged she had suffered from had shot up her aura and then some.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She was meant to be the best of the best, the star pupil, the one everyone else looked up to. Instead she was lying on the floor. Beaten and battered. And she didn't even have any idea if the staff would bother coming back to pick her up.

Nadia wasn't about to find out. She, slowly but surely, pulled herself up the tree, using it for support. After a few seconds of contemplation, she finally set her injured foot out.

"AAAHHH" She screamed in pain as soon as her foot made contact with the floor.

She collapsed to the floor in a disgraceful heap, too far to even crawl back the tree she had been previously sat by.

And there she sat… Alone.

'This is it' She thought to herself as tears began to well up.

'After all my hard work… _this_ is how it ends?" She slammed her fist into the ground, the tears started flowing.

'What are my parents going to think? They poured everything into my training, and for me to come home on the first week? They'd never forgive me' Nadia put her head in her hands as she began to weep.

….

"Hello?"

Nadia poked her head up in shock.

"H-hello?" She whimpered

'Come on. You can do better than that.

"Hello?" She said much louder and more authoritatively.

"Is someone there?" Nadia desperately looked around as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Out from the bushes came Kira Cinnamon, clutching a long brass staff in both her hands. Upon seeing Nadia, she rushed over to kneel by the injured girl.

"Oh thank Oum, I thought I was alone out here" Kira exhaled as she smiled at Nadia.

….

"Is something wrong? Are you hurt?" Kira looked at Nadia with a concerned expression.

"My leg" Nadia said, struggling to move the limb to show Kira.

Kira carefully ran her hand over Nadia's ankle, a suspicious bump confirming Kira's initial fear.

"It's broken"

"O-oh… oh no… this can't be happening" Nadia covered her mouth with her free hand, the other propping her up.

"How am I going to finish initiation with a broken ankle" Nadia's voice was wavering again.

Kira sighed to herself, before resolutely nodding. She placed both hands over Nadia's injured ankle, and closed her eyes. A brightness began to resonate with a soft buzz around Kira's hands. Nadia stared into the light, mesmerized for a few moments, before it began to slowly dissipate into a light shine.

After a couple of seconds Kira removed her hands from Nadia's ankle. Wincing as she put a hand to her own head and ankle.

Nadia rubbed her ankle in shock, the pain, while still present, had faded to nothing more than a bad ache. It was then that Nadia realised her headache and illness had also disappeared. She looked up in disbelief.

"How did you…?" Nadia looked at Kira in confusion.

"It's my semblance, it allows me to get rid of other people's injuries or illnesses, stuff like that" Kira groaned

Nadia had noticed Kira's discomfort, and after putting two and two together she realized the downside to Kira's abilities.

"But it comes at a price… doesn't it?" Nadia stared at Kira with prying eyes.

"Yep…"

There was a short silence between the two. As Kira ran her fingers nervously through her hair, she did her best to avoid Nadia's gaze.

"I have to suffer a portion of the effects that I heal" She said, rubbing her ankle nervously.

Nadia glared at Kira with a mixture of anger, worry and gratitude, all exhibited in one expression. Her harsh gaze prompting Kira to look up and make eye contact.

"You shouldn't have done that… why… did you do that?" Nadia asked.

At this, Kira was able to let out a small giggle, much needed in their current situation.

"I don't think they'd be happy if I turned up to the ceremony without my partner"

Nadia hadn't even made the connection yet, if she was to be able to pass initiation, Kira would be her partner for the next four years.

"Oh… oh yeah" Nadia said, giggling herself, Kira's attitude was infectious.

The two shared a moment of respite together, both simply giggling at the situation they found themselves in.

But soon the moment was over, and the unfortunate truth that their trial had only just begun came to the forefront of their minds.

Kira and Nadia both carefully picked each-other up. And they began heading north, towards their objective.


	7. Chapter 7

Nadia and Kira made their way up to a stone alter, it looked ancient, adorned with roots and cracks, the signs that it had been there long since before they had arrived. On the alter, were many podiums, sitting atop each was a chess piece, the "relics" they had been sent to acquire.

Nadia and Kira pushed forward, aiming to finally complete their trial.

At this moment, Dwight, Merrick, Dove and another, green mohawk-ed boy, emerged from the trees, chatting freely, seemingly without a care in the world.

The two groups briefly made eye contact with each other in a momentary stand-off, before making general signs and gestures of acknowledgement, before carrying on to the alter.

Nadia and Kira walked onto the crumbling stone platform. Nadia, in her no-nonsense mindset, grabbed the first object she saw, a black pawn, Kira smiled to show her approval and nothing more was said. It was at this point that she noticed there was two of every piece, so that there was a matching set for every type.

Dwight and Merrick broke off from their new compatriots to catch up with Nadia and Kira.

"So, how was your journey?" Merrick asked, nonchalantly smiling to the girls.

"Eh, not too bad. Couple hiccups, but nothing we couldn't handle" Kira smiled back.

"You seem to have formed a pretty big group already" Nadia said, looking over to the two boys, whom she did not know the name of.

The group turned to look at the two boys, who had just retrieved a black bishop from a podium that looked like it would fall apart at the force of a small breeze.

"Yeah, that's Dove" Merrick said, pointing towards the boy in tan armour.

"And that is Russell" He followed, pointing to the boy in a sleeveless shirt, with a green mohawk.

As if summoned by the mention of their names, Russell waved over and began to shout.

"Hey dude, or… dudes, we're gonna head back to the rendezvous point, hope we get put in the same team" and with that they left

"We met some other kid on the way here too, but he pussied out and quit" Dwight said, him and Merrick began to laugh in memory of the event, Dwight practically keeling over, Merrick needing to place a hand on Dwight's back to keep himself up right.

"Fucking faunus man… ugh" Dwight wheezed through his laughter, this time however, he didn't provoke laughter from any of the others, who merely stared at him.

Dwight walked over to a nearby podium, picking up a black pawn and showing the small piece of wood to Merrick.

"Aren't we, as hunters, just the pawns in someone else's game?" Dwight mimicked a philosopher's voice.

He turned back to the group at the absence of laughter or sarcastic comment. Nadia and Merrick simply stared with confused and visibly angered expressions. Kira seemed almost embarrassed rather than angry, to which Dwight raised an eyebrow.

'Obviously they didn't like the faunus comment' Dwight though to himself, before sniffing and giving the pawn to Merrick.

"This one good yeah?" Dwight said, jokingly squaring up to Merrick.

Merrick, clearly in a less merry state, stared icily back at Dwight. He then took the pawn and turned away.

"Yeah.."

Upon hearing this, Dwight gave an impish smile, and began to walk back in the direction they had arrived from.

"The told us to head back to the top of the cliff right?" He shouted as he marched off.

Merrick stood with Nadia and Kira for a few moments, both of whom were giving him sympathetic looks.

"I can't believe that asshole is my partner" He sighed, before making his way after Dwight.

"Poor guy" Nadia leaned over to Kira.

"Mmm" Kira exhaled wistfully.

"What's wrong" Nadia looked down to her partner, due to their height difference.

"You don't think he really hated faunus do you?" Kira said, glumly.

Nadia audibly sighed and placed a hand on her partner's shoulder.

"He's a dick… so probably" She said, before they began to make their own way back.


End file.
